Sotragem Offers to Buy Mothballed LyondellBasell Refinery

Monaco-based oil products trading company Sotragem said it has offered to buy LyondellBasell's mothballed Berre refinery in southeastern France.  

Sotragem declined to say how much the offer was worth, but French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg said the company had presented plans to invest €400 million in the facility over three years. This, he said, could lead to the creation of more than 200 jobs.

LyondellBasell mothballed the refinery in January 2012, having failed to find a buyer since putting it up for sale in May 2011.

If the deal goes through, it would run against the recent trend of European refinery closures in the face of vast overcapacity.